Julius Caesar. Aureus 50-47 BC, mint moving in Gaul. Laureate head of Venus right. In left field, ⊥II / CAE - SAR Trophy with shield and carnyx. On right, axe. 8,70g. Bahrfeldt 17; Biaggi 26; Calicó 40; Crawford 452/1; Sear 10; Sydenham 1008. Rare and a superb specimen. Good extremely fine. Provenance: Tkalec (26 October 2007), 125. Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. Around 60 BC, Rome was dominated by three powerful men: Pompey, a talented general crowned with military glory; Caesar, a politician who was both popular and ambitious; and Crassus, the richest man in Rome. Together, they concentrated much of Rome’s power in their hands and decided to form an alliance known as the First Triumvirate. However, a few years later, while Caesar was in Gaul, their individual ambitions brought an end to the alliance. We may recall the famous phrase attributed to Caesar by Plutarch: “I would rather be the first man in a village than the second in Rome.” In the meantime, Crassus was killed during his disastrous campaign against the Parthians. Pompey and Caesar eventually came into open conflict, forcing Caesar to cross the Rubicon and march on Rome with his army. The decisive confrontation took place in Thessaly at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. Pompey was defeated and fled to Egypt, where Ptolemy XIII, the brother of Cleopatra, had him executed, provoking Caesar’s anger. This aureus was struck during this period, around 50 BC, by Julius Caesar. This is the first gold issue struck by Caesar. On the obverse is the head of Venus, whom Caesar claimed as his divine ancestor. Indeed, he traced his family, the Iulii, back to Iulus (also called Ascanius), the son of Aeneas, who was himself the son of Venus. Venus was therefore the protector and emblem of the Iulii. Beside her head is the numeral II⊥, which would correspond to Caesar’s age at the time the coin was struck: 52 years old. However, since we do not know exactly which year Caesar was born, between 102 or 100 BC, this does not allow us to date the aureus precisely. On the reverse, the military trophy evokes Caesar’s successes during the Gallic Wars and thus draws attention away from the civil war, a less honourable conflict that Caesar was waging against another Roman, Pompey.